In Reply to: Hmmm....that exlains liturgical worship posted by Oldtimer on August 12, 2004 at 00:10:22:
What you're starting to appreciate is the power of ritual. Fact is, even something as seemingly unstructured as speaking in tongues can and does become a ritual in the same way chanting and swinging incensors has become ritualized over many centuries.
Rituals (stereotypical behavior routines) have a calming effect on the mind. People with addictive disorders are as much drawn to the ritual behaviors of using as they are to the actual drug of choice. Difficulty coping with and regulating anxiety is the fundamental problem that addicts face.
For this reason, I would say marijuana was my drug of choice, because I found the ritual of preparation, lighting up and passing the pipe very soothing. At the same time, I hated the way weed actually made me feel. Now that's the definition of addiction when you do something over and over that you don't really like and in fact makes you sick, but you do it anyway.
It's no accident that at least one major world religion has made the symbolic religious ritual of drinking wine or that a number of native religions have made the ritual of ingesting tobacco, peyote, coca, etc., a way to support their religious experience.
And yes, I tend to believe religion is the opiate of the people. That's OK, because I see religious worship as more of a good thing than bad. Any number of other ritualized behaviors that calm us down (crack cocaine, for example) tend to corrupt rather than build up the individual and society. Religion can be very destructive--as well all well know--but unlike drug addiction, it has the potential for being a stabilizing and empowering force.